During his visit to India last year, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott had expressed concern over lack of growth in bilateral trade.
An influential US lawmaker claims his visit to India helped catalyze "early signals" that New Delhi may reduce its imports of Russian oil, a step he described as "meaningful" in weakening Moscow's ability to fund its war in Ukraine.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi received a tri-services ceremonial welcome in Colombo, Sri Lanka, marking the first time such an honor has been bestowed upon a foreign leader. The welcome took place at the historic Independence Square, the venue for national day celebrations. Modi's visit comes as Sri Lanka shows signs of recovery from a recent economic crisis, with India playing a significant role in providing assistance. During the visit, both leaders are expected to discuss a range of issues, including defense cooperation, energy, and digital initiatives.
'Things may get much worse before they get better,' predicts Ajay Chhibber.
India and Indonesia today agreed to fast track the ongoing negotiations for early conclusion of the proposed comprehensive market opening pact, aimed at enhancing bilateral economic engagement between the countries.
India was looking at tapping new markets for import of edible oils, following the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday. According to her, the country was facing various hurdles on import of edible oils due to the conflict. "Everyone knows there is a war going on between Russia and Ukraine. There are various hurdles in terms of importing oils.
'There is a trade in goods, a lot of tariff.'
India and New Zealand have signed a pact to institutionalize their defence ties and vowed to boost cooperation in the Indo-Pacific. Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised concerns about anti-India activities by some illegal elements in New Zealand with his Kiwi counterpart Christopher Luxon. The two sides also signed six agreements to enhance cooperation in areas including education, sports, agriculture, and climate change. They also agreed to prepare a roadmap for cooperation in the defence industry sector and explore early implementation of cooperation in the digital payments sector.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced six new schemes and increased the subsidised Kisan Credit Card (KCC) loan limit to Rs 7 lakh from Rs 5 lakh, targeting everything from unemployment to crop productivity enhancement across the country. Presenting her eighth budget speech in Parliament, Sitharaman positioned agriculture as "the first engine of growth" and unveiled the Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana, a flagship program targeting 100 agri-districts grappling with low productivity, moderate crop intensity, and below-average credit parameters.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US Vice President JD Vance have expressed satisfaction with the progress made in negotiations for a bilateral trade agreement. The two leaders met in New Delhi and discussed a range of bilateral issues, including cooperation in energy, defense, strategic technologies, and other areas. They also exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest.
During their talks, the two leaders decided to significantly expand their ties in several key areas including defence, trade, energy and education.
During 2013-14, imports from Japan, South Korea and Malaysia stood at $9.49 billion, $12.47 billion and $9.21 billion respectively.
Trump's new rules for how countries should treat him have led to the current breakdown in India-US relations, explains Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
India and ASEAN are working on a list of items on which the two sides will bring down tariffs faster and implement it by January next year.
Countries that have signed the RCEP agreement can start negotiations with India for joining the pact once New Delhi submits a written request stating its intention for the same, according to a declaration. On November 4 last year, India walked out of mega free trade agreement RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) as negotiations failed to address New Delhi's outstanding issues and concerns. The remaining 15 member countries have signed RCEP agreement and have stated that the pact would remain open to India.
He said that India will work with Singapore to bring the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership to early conclusion. He also said the India-Singapore Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement has been reviewed and the two sides will work to further upgrade it.
Russia's unprecedented rapprochement with North Korea has raised concerns about the re-emergence of a Russia-China-North Korea alliance which could increase the probability of conflict on the Korean Peninsula, explains Dr Rajaram Panda.
Modi and Albanese also reiterated their shared ambition for an early conclusion of the ambitious Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) that is expected to significantly expand bilateral trade ties.
The Singapore Minister applauded Prime Minister Modi's effort to make India the manufacturing hub of the world.
Modi thanked his Australian counterpart for supporting him in unveiling the foundation stone of 'Little India', a suburb of Sydney.
The two countries also signed three other agreements -- to enhance aviation links, to jointly work in the area of energy efficiency and promotion of parliamentary cooperation.
As US President Joe Biden launched a new trade deal with 12 Indo-Pacific nations, including India, to enhance trade, economic and investment opportunities, China, which sees the pact as a threat to its dominance in the region, went on the offensive against it, promising more opening up, while the official media here termed it as "economic Nato".
In a dramatic shift in Canada's foreign policy, Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday declared that the long-standing economic and security relationship between Canada and the United States has ended, responding to US President Donald Trump's announcement of new auto tariffs that could severely impact Canada's economy, Politico reported.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday met Akie Abe, the wife of Japan's late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and recalled the late premier's invaluable contribution to the advancement of India-Japan relations.
We have nothing to gain by raising our concerns internationally as our narrative has got entangled with several controversial concepts in the United Nations, asserts Ambassador T N Sreenivasan.
The 2 countries signed 15 agreements including one on defence cooperation after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held 'productive discussions' with President Joko Widodo.
In a bid to strengthen their bilateral economic ties, India and Indonesia plan to explore opportunities for co-operation in oil and gas, and railway sectors, among other areas.
India and China on Monday decided to resume the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra as the two sides agreed to take certain people-centric steps to 'stabilise and rebuild' ties.
After a fruitful visit of US President Barack Obama, India is planning to initiate negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with the country.
The agreement provides for extensive cooperation in the civil nuclear energy sector including in research and development for peaceful uses of nuclear energy, they said.
In a significant policy shift aimed at boosting agri-productivity and rural prosperity, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced six new agricultural schemes while increasing the subsidised Kisan Credit Card loan limit to Rs 5 lakh from the existing Rs 3 lakh, benefiting 7.7 crore farmers, fishermen, and dairy farmers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron have called for enhancing trade and investment ties between their countries and committed to further deepening their engagement in the Indo-Pacific. They discussed a full spectrum of bilateral relations, including key global and regional issues, and stressed the urgent need for reform in the United Nations Security Council. The leaders also underscored their commitment to ensuring the global AI sector can drive positive social, economic, and environmental outcomes.
India and Italy inked 15 pacts and finalised an ambitious action plan to further expand their ties following a virtual summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Italian counterpart Giuseppe Conte that primarily focused on ramping up economic engagement.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and United States President Donald Trump on Monday vowed to work towards a 'trusted' partnership with a focus on boosting India-US cooperation in areas of trade, energy and defence in their first phone conversation since the American leader's inauguration last week.
The minister said Australia would benefit greatly from this pact.
Reports (not denied by India) that the USA had 'for the first time provided real-time details to their Indian counterparts on the Chinese positions and force strength in advance of a PLA incursion' into Tawang at the LAC in December 2022, helping India thwart China's expansionist designs, show how operationally effective the USA-India friendship has become on the ground. A engaging excerpt from Sreeram Chaulia's must-read new book, Friends: India's Closest Strategic Partners.
Moon Jae-in's visit will play a crucial role in exploring complementarities between India's Act East policy and South Korea's New Southern policy, says Dr Rahul Mishra.
